My Birthday Party - Part I (The Boil)

The theme of Camden's 1st Birthday was "the Ocean." After seeing how much she loved our time at the shore during our trip out East, we knew we wanted to do something on this theme. We settled on a shrimp boil for dinner. It's a fantastic and easy way to serve a crowd...and we had 21 guests at the party! Everything is cooked in one big pot (and by big I mean ginormous). The "boys" oversaw that part of the party.

The birthday girl happily hung out with her cousins, aunts, uncles, and, of course, grandma while we waited for everything to cook.

Once the potatoes, corn on the cob, onions, kielbasa, garlic, and shrimp are cooked, it's poured directly out onto paper-lined tables and everyone digs in. No plates or utensils allowed. Cocktail sauce, mustard and butter was put right on the paper for dipping.

Okay, we let Grammy use a plate and fork!

The only glitch was one of our burners didn't work very well, so we had to stagger the serving of food. It didn't matter, the guys happily dug into round two. Hey, Spencer, stop digging out the shrimp!

We also grilled up a whole pile of chicken for those who don't like seafood, are deathly allergic to it (sorry, again, Angie), or can't have it yet because they are only a one-year-old!

Overall, it was a smash hit. Everyone raved. The Zatarain's spices that season the whole dish were marvelous - as well as the garlic that is squished out and spread on bread, potatoes, or corn. One of the best things about this kind of meal is the clean-up...or lack of! You simply roll up the paper and toss away. Perfect. We definitely have plans to do this type of party again in the near future.

What a great start to celebrating the birthday of our most amazing and beautiful daughter!